| Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums
Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments.
Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers (it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On! |
| Register Log In | | ForumsCalendarActive Threads |
| SEARCH
Piano Forums & Piano World | |
| Find a Professional | Our Classified Ads
Find Piano Professionals-
*Piano Dealers - Piano Stores
*Piano Tuners
*Piano Teachers
*Piano Movers
*Piano Restorations
*Piano Manufacturers
Advertise on Piano World |
| Who's Online Now | | 51 members (bobrunyan, Arkan, 36251, accordeur, brennbaer, anotherscott, 20/20 Vision, brdwyguy, Adam12301, 10 invisible),1,632guests, and 406robots. | Key:Admin,Global Mod,Mod |
| Quick Links to Useful Piano & Music Resources | Quick Links:
*Advertise On Piano World
*Online Piano Recitals
*Piano Recitals Index*Piano Accessories
*Live Piano Venues
*Music School Listings
* Buying a Piano
*Buying A Acoustic Piano
*Buying a Digital Piano
*Directory/Site Map
*Virtual Piano
*Music Word Search
*Piano Videos
*The Maine Piano Man
* |
Previous Thread | Next Thread |
1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area #350691504/18/24 01:00 AM | Sherman197111OP Junior Member | | OP Junior Member Joined: Apr 2019 Posts: 2 | My Digital Piano stopped working and I found a free Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet on Craigslist. I believe it was made around 1946. All the keys work and to my ears it sounds in tune (tuning app shows otherwise and keys tend to me mostly flat). Can anyone suggest a piano tech in the Metro Detroit Area? Should I look for a tech that has experience working on this particular Piano? Aside from a tuning what should I ask the tech to check out? Do piano techs inspect the piano when tuning or would that be a separate fee? |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350731504/19/24 12:18 AM | Joined: Aug 2023 Posts: 265 JohnCW Full Member | Full Member Joined: Aug 2023 Posts: 265 | As no one has yet answered, for what its worth, my opinion .... I think you may actually struggle to find a tech willing to work on a near 80 year old spinet (other than someone just starting out and not experienced enough yet to know they shouldn't have). Been there done that. The reason is, not only are they hard to work on, difficult to tune at the best of times, at that age things are likely to break while they are working on it. Then the owner expects them to fix it at no cost, or is unhappy because it sounds crappy for some reason and then the tech's reputation gets hammered. There is a good reason the piano was free. Last edited by JohnCW; 04/19/24 12:18 AM. Sydney Australia
Retired, was part time technician |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350740704/19/24 08:32 AM | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 13,240 Rich Galassini
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member |
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member Joined: May 2001 Posts: 13,240 | JohnCW speaks the truth, Sherman197111. The Acrosonic was a good little piano in its time and place. It was never meant to last 80 years. I suggest going to www.PTG.org and clicking on “find a technician”. Put in your zip code and see what comes up. Now that you understand the possible issues of your piano, you can have a realistic expectation for service. If the technician knows you understand what you have, they can come out and have a frank conversation about what they can and cannot do. That can take a lot of pressure off of everybody. Good luck! |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350745704/19/24 10:56 AM | Joined: May 2005 Posts: 13,975 Carey Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member | Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member Joined: May 2005 Posts: 13,975 | We have a 1946 Acrosonic in the fellowship hall of our church. It was donated by a parishioner (now deceased) and had been her childhood piano. Still a nice looking piece of furniture, but the sound is extremely bright (original hammers) and the piano feels quite fragile overall. As a result, the piano is rarely used . I question how much a tech would be able to do to "improve" it at this point. A moderately priced digital piano would provide a more satisfactory playing experience. |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350745904/19/24 11:03 AM | Joined: Jun 2003 Posts: 32,066 BDB Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member | Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member Joined: Jun 2003 Posts: 32,066 | To address your original questions: you could do a search for piano tuner/technicians in your area on the Internet, or even the various phone directories. If you talk to one, that person could answer the rest of your questions, because they may pertain to the individual. |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350764504/19/24 05:42 PM | Joined: Aug 2023 Posts: 265 JohnCW Full Member | Full Member Joined: Aug 2023 Posts: 265 | The Piano Technicians Guild website has a 'Find a Technician' webpage where you enter your zip code and it displays all members of the guild within a nominated distance. Sydney Australia
Retired, was part time technician |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350765304/19/24 05:54 PM | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 4,572 PianoWorksATL 4000 Post Club Member | 4000 Post Club Member Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 4,572 | One of the local PTG chapter meetings that I attended last year had the audience of techs more engaged then usual because they were sharing stories about the no-win situation that happens when they are asked to fix up some "free" piano, most commonly old spinets. The had a lot more patience for reviving a family heirloom than taking on a free piano. I won't speak for JohnCW, but I would tell you to keep looking for at least a console model that would have more potential than a spinet. |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350765504/19/24 05:55 PM | Joined: Nov 2014 Posts: 640 Scott Cole, RPT 500 Post Club Member | 500 Post Club Member Joined: Nov 2014 Posts: 640 | Personally, at this point I'd probably refuse an Acrosonic of that age. The main reason is that these actions are a real pain to remove and replace--there is VERY little clearance in there and it's easy to mangle dampers or break other parts when you try to get it back in. (If you have no trouble with that, I salute you....) The problem is, if you're a tech and you agree to take it on, you kind of own anything that require removing the action, such as string replacement, broken hammers, etc. So let's say you start tuning and you break a string or two, or you discover a some tight flange--now what? You either have to deal with getting that stupid action out and in or refer them to someone else, which I hate having to do. Last edited by Scott Cole, RPT; 04/19/24 05:56 PM. |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350767504/19/24 07:04 PM | Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 6,379 Joseph Fleetwood 6000 Post Club Member | 6000 Post Club Member Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 6,379 | As a European who moved to the USA and discovered the existence of the Acrosonic…. Don’t do it |
Re: 1946 Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet Need Tech in Detroit Area Sherman197111#350775104/20/24 01:07 AM | Joined: May 2005 Posts: 13,975 Carey Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member | Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member Joined: May 2005 Posts: 13,975 | For some inexplicable reason, my Dad bought a new Acrosonic spinet in 1953 even though neither he nor his second wife played the piano. I had access to that piano during my annual summer visits with him from age 7 through high school, and I was the only one of his six kids who learned to play. If the piano had limitations, they certainly didn't bother me as the instrument was as good or better than the other pianos I had access to the rest of the year. I spent many happy hours playing the Acrosonic, In fact, I was grateful for any piano I could get my hands on back then. It is amazing how popular the Acrosonics were in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but, as has been stated previously, they had a limited lifespan and were difficult to tune. |
Moderated by Gombessa, Piano World, platuser | What's Hot!! | Piano World Has Been Sold!
--------------------
(updated 06/06/2022)
---------------------
Posting Pictures on the Forums |
| New Topics - Multiple Forums | How many piao players there are in the USA?
by Adam12301 - 04/22/24 07:49 AM | Do manufacturers/technicians experiment w/ string materials?
by Riboflavin - 04/22/24 05:23 AM | PDS-228 Silent Drive Broken Sustain pedal sensor?
by SpicyCrab - 04/21/24 11:49 PM | Help a beginner recreate the sounds in this song ?
by onion12 - 04/21/24 10:40 PM | Fingering question for Rach 2
by computerpro3 - 04/21/24 08:22 PM |
| Forum Statistics | Forums43 Topics223,456 Posts3,350,307 Members111,675 | Most Online15,252
Mar 21st, 2010 |
| Privacy Policy ·Forum Rules ·Mark All ReadContact Us·Forum Help·Piano World Home Page |
|
It is amazing how popular the Acrosonics were in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but, as has been stated previously, they had a limited lifespan and were difficult to tune.